A pirate with six toes on each foot has been captured by a Royal Navy operation in the Indian Ocean.
The Somalian, known as Six Toe Joe, was one of 14 suspects handed over to the Seychelles authorities
He also has ten fingers and two thumbs due to a condition known as polydactyly, the Sun reported.
A source told the newspaper: “He’s the modern day Long John Silver. When you think of pirates you think of peg legs, not excessive fingers and toes, but the rumours proved to be true!”
The men were rounded up by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Fort Victoria, under a NATO-led operation.
The suspected pirates, who were known to have been operating in the Indian Ocean, were intercepted on board a hijacked Yemeni fishing dhow. They were found to have a variety of pirate paraphernalia and weapons on board, including rocket-propelled grenades and hand held grenades.
This is the culmination of four months of counter piracy operations for the UK Counter-Piracy Task Group based in RFA Fort Victoria under the command of Captain Gerry Northwood.
Captain Northwood said: “This has been a long four months of intensive counter-piracy operations during which time we have captured more than 30 pirates for prosecution and rescued 44 merchant mariners from the hands of the pirates.
“This success has been echoed by other NATO units engaged in counter-piracy operations and the handover of these 14 suspect pirates to the Seychelles authorities will contribute to ensuring the waters of the Indian Ocean become a safer place for all mariners".
Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said: “We are very grateful to the Seychelles for their agreement to prosecute these suspected pirates.Their commitment to the fight against piracy has helped avoid a situation where these individuals were not held to account for their actions.
“In a few weeks time the London Conference on Somalia will discuss how the international community can tackle the many problems faced by Somalia, including piracy. Today’s agreement on the transfer of alleged pirates demonstrates what can be achieved through international co-operation and commitment.”
Danish ship HDMS Absalon, another NATO ship conducting counter piracy operations in the Indian Ocean, was also in the Seychelles to hand over four suspected pirates to the Seychelles authorities.
NATO has contributed to the international counter piracy effort off the Horn of Africa since December 2008. The mission has expanded from escorting UN and World Food Programme shipping under Operation Allied Provider and protecting merchant traffic in the Gulf of Aden under Operation Allied Protector.
NATO has announced its continuing commitment to counter-piracy by extending Operation Ocean Shield to December 2012.
Source: The Huffington Post
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